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CHAPTER 5
05.01 Prunus, bamboo, bees and butterflies
05.01 (1050AD)
Satin stitch on complex gauze
Dimension: warp 67cm;
weft 53.5cm
Excavated from the White Pagoda
in Liao dynasty Qingzhou, Inner Mongolia
Balingyouqi Museum, Daban, Chifeng
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The main subject is a scene composed of prunus, bamboo, lotus, bee, butterfly and rocks. A bamboo and a prunus plant stand in the centre. To the left of this group is a cluster of lotus blossoms, each with pink petals, and a large lotus leaf. Located at the base of the plants are rocks of strange shape, formed by embroidery of white, light blue and blue, and they are decorated with small flowers of four to six petals. Small blue trees issue from the rock. Light green grass decorates the sides. In the distance, cloud-shaped rocks and woods are depicted. Bees and butterflies flutter among clouds in lingzhi shape. There is a row of white linked pearls on the right, left and lower borders.

Embroideries in this shape are very rare. Two similar pieces of embroidery are found in the same site: one with prunus, bamboo, bee and butterfly and linked pearls on blue luo ground, and another with dragon medallion on red luo ground. Other pieces of embroidery with duck in lotus pond, in a private collection in London, and with willow and butterflies from Xiaonurimu, Inner Mongolia are of a similar dimension and shape to the present piece.

Note: Zhao & Zhang 1992
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05.00a Falcon chasing deer, Liao dynasty
05.00b Woods and mountain, Liao dynasty